Fake Thanksgiving!

Fall came kinda quickly in MI and with the cooler weather, my husband had the great idea that we should cook a turkey!  By 'we' he means he'll come up with the idea, I'll do all the work, and he'll show up at the table.  Works for me!

This morning I got up early to stuff the bird and get it in the oven.

I've only cooked a turkey one other time in my life - for Thanksgiving 2005 when we lived in Baton Rouge and weren't able to come home for the holiday.  Minus leaving some of the gizzards inside (I didn't know you had to pull stuff out of each end) and buying biscuits instead of butter rolls, it turned out pretty good.

I don't cook meals often - and I mean that in the way that I am in the kitchen often baking desserts and treats and making snacks, just not preparing actual dinners - that's my husband's role.  He's the BBQer/dinner-maker and I'm the set-up/clean-up/make desserts and drinks person.  It works for us.

Today we kept the menu simple and it turned out delicious!  Just a little googling to get me started...

And everything turned out divine!  I even made homemade gravy for the first time by de-glazing the roaster.  (I didn't like it, but it turned out very pretty - good thing I had can stuff warming up as a back up). 

Green bean casserole like my mom always makes (I never liked as a kid but my husband LOVES), mashed potatoes, white and dark meat, wet and dry stuffing (I'm a dry person, my husband wet), homemade and can gravy, and rolls rounded out the table.  We'll have to work on getting some color in there next time.  Man, did it turn out good. 

If I'm only going to cook dinner a handful of times a year, I totally make it count!  Now to watch the Detroit Lions not embarrass us - just like real Thanksgiving.  Happy Fake Thanksgiving everyone!

We have a crib!!

Jake read the directions

and Pat did all the real work :)

and now we have our first piece of furniture in our newly-painted nursery!

More not-running :)

I officially got the word last week that I will not be running any more during this pregnancy :(  Not the end of the world and I've been expecting it, so I've been productive in other ways.

I threw an awesome wedding shower for a friend of mine and made lots of goodies:

cucumber appetizers with hummus

deviled eggs - a staple at any of my family's functions

veges and dip in a baguette - totally from pinterest and delicious :)

 

caprese toothpicks

fruit mini skewers

and of course desserts, my favorite part!  sugar cookies (forgot to take a picture of), choc chip cookies and brownies in heart shapes!

 

The whole day was a lot of fun and my friend had a great time!

I finished painting the finishing touches in the nursery this weekend, so it's ready for furniture!  And the very next day, my parents suprised us by bringing over our crib!  I hadn't announced our registry to anyone yet, but my mom knew what was up and what a great surprise it was!  Pat and I will put this together soon and then will only have to wait on our dresser to be in stock at IKEA :)  Things are coming along nicely :)

Since I can't run, lift things, walk more than leisurely, or stress my body in any way, any suggestions as to what I can do? 

My house is clean, I made cookies, rice krispie treats and fudge this weekend and the pantry is reorganized.  I have 15 more weeks of 'light-duty' and need something to fill my time... Read any good books lately? 

Go Blue!

Yesterday was our first Michigan tailgate of the year and it was a perfect day!

The weather was great, we had lots of great food and it was awesome to see everyone I hadn't seen since we've been pregnant.  Fun to share the news and get some random advice.  

We did coney dogs for the first time and they were a huge hit.  Definitely going to bring them back again.

We had our 20 week ultrasound a couple weeks ago and while everything looks great with the baby, I have been diagnosed with placenta previa which means I had to stop running :(  I was really bummed about it at first in terms of missing hanging out with my friends and feeling so great after a run, but of course that didn't last long.  It's what's best for the baby and I can do it no problem.

So, I haven't been out for a run in three weeks but I'm finding ways to keep active and see my friends.  When we would usually meet for 6 miles during the week, I'll meet them all to chat, send them off and then walk around town until they finish.  Walking isn't nearly the same as running, but I'll take what I can get.  When they're all done, we still go out to dinner, so I'm still getting my friend time in.

We've been prepping the nursery and I'm proud to say it is almost done!  I patched all the holes, prepped the walls and painted the entire thing 'pebble gray'.  Now we'll just wait for that to cure to put up the fun border I absolutely love and be done.

Registering for baby stuff was fun and not as stressful as I'd imagined, so that was a fun not-running event I was able to enjoy.  Now I have to wait patiently for our shower in November.  My husband wants to go out and buy everything right now and fending him off has become pretty time consuming, which has been good since I have extra time on my hands :)

Other than that, I've still been feeling great!  I haven't had any symptoms that come along with previa and have been able to enjoy every other part of my everyday life, so I'm good to go.  I just hope the second part of this pregnancy goes as smoothly.

 

Once baby comes out in early January, I'll be ready to start training for a spring marathon - Charlevoix 2013 - I can hope at least :)